Our AgriQuality staff, members of the field response teams, support and head quarters staff, plus executive members and beekeepers have been putting in tremendously long hours plotting, testing, tracing, evaluating and now formulating proposals for the control or whatever for the varroa mite incursion. Those outside the control zones have carried on beekeeping.

What a wonderful autumn we have experienced. The coastal strip where most of my hives are located has been warm and sunny, (16-18 Deg C) which has allowed the bees to fly and bring in sources of late nectar normally excluded to them. The summer's off again; on again conditions have confused a lot of plants and trees tricking them into flowering again completely out of season. The pink flowering Eucalyptus leucoxylon roseaa has flowered for months and on a sunny day the trees hum with bee activity.

This late flow has caused a compaction of the brood nest down into the bottom super however; it has also stimulated brood rearing. Most hives have between two and four full frames of brood in them (plus the odd patch of drone brood) and so far are not showing signs of going into a cluster. It’s a real pleasure working these hives in summer clothing, doing the final disease inspection and wintering them down.

How different the situation is just 10K inland. Frosty mornings have curtailed all but a dribble of bees activity, brood rearing has ceased, and bees are formed in a tight cluster for the winter. I have been giving a little additional top ventilation to those hives not in direct sunlight to reduce moisture from under the crown/split board. Hives should be dry inside but not have so much ventilation that they have to consume additional stores to keep warm.

I also had a few hives tipped over since my last visit (a few months ago). No real damage as all my hives are strapped with nylon cords against the wind and animals rubbing. However it was noticeable in one of these hives that the bees had completely vacated the first 15-cm (6 inches) of comb nearest the ground. Too damp and cold for them to survive there and the reason why my hives are sitting on pallets off the ground.

With all the intense interest in mites, a lot of beekeepers are taking a little more interest in what goes on inside the hive. Hives form a nice warm environment, have a plentiful number of food sources on hand and therefore are very attractive to a lot of other insects and where there is little vegetation, these become the focal point where insects gather and breed.

At this time of the year, you often see praying mantis egg casings on the outside of hives. A sign that there is plenty of food around.

When you first lift the lid of a hive, its interesting to see what's made it's home on top of the split board. Cockroaches are common in bush areas and migrate into most of my hives. They make their home in the cracks and crevices away from the bees and feeding on the debris the bees drop during the night. Several of my hives have the odd large black (with cream edging) pacific cockroaches that launch themselves off the top of the crown board as soon as the hive is opened. Their speed is incredible. Often too quick for my hive tool!

In some apiaries, spiders seem to take over under the lid. Different apiaries, different spiders (mostly female). All have a place in nature except the Australian white tail, which can give you a nasty bite if it falls into your gumboots, so I generally dispatch them.

Just recently, a lot of hives in our area have started to harbour tiny ants under the lids. No matter how many you squash, they return, that is until you put wet grass or green walnut leaves under the lid (thanks to an old American Beekeeping Magazine for the suggestion).

In some areas, a little parasitic wasp builds mud chambers under the hive roof in which they put paralysed spiders for their larvae. Good in the garden but why do they pick on the lovely little green spiders

At this time of the year, you will also see the odd queen wasp and ladybirds hibernating under the lid. Unfortunate queen wasps have no place in my apiaries and don't last very long.

During the late summer evenings you can often spot the odd wax moth sitting outside of the hive, waiting to go in once activity at the entrance dies down. More often you will notice the silk tunnels their larva make in the outside frames of honey supers or in stored combs. During spring you sometimes see the odd tunnel between the capping and the larvae underneath or open topped pupa cells in a brood comb, the result of the bees clearing out wax moth larvae.

It is not until all the bees are shaken off a frame that you notice our little pollen mite. These 6-legged mites should not be confused with the varroa, which has 8 legs and is a lot larger. I use them to break down dry clogged pollen frames during the winter; (I never completely clean the storage shed of pollen residue). Sometimes you can see the tiny red spider mite crawling over the supers looking for vegetation to eat.

These and the bees make up some of the living organisms that form part of the natural world of the beehive. Keep your eyes open, you might spot something new.

At this time of the year, beekeepers are well into their winter duties. Sorting frames and woodware, scraping off propolis. Dark and heavy frames should be put aside to be melted down. As a general rule, I recycle the wax in frames I can't see the light through when held up to the sun. These are put into a pile for melting down using a steam chamber or held over for the solar wax melter. This takes a bit of will power to stick to your guns and melt them when you are faced with a shortage of honey boxes during a good flow.

Winter is the time to plan your next year's operation. I realise with the mite problem hanging over our heads that this might be a little difficult right now. However, while sitting in front of the fire during the evening, how about working out your "cost of production". Everybody's will be different as each has different parameters. Some travel long distances; some make their own gear while other buy in replacements. Do you write off the cost of supers in ten years and frames over five years? Depends how you look after them.

What dollar value should we put against our time? Hired a tradesman lately and got a shock at the bill. Some of us are still valuing our time at $10 per hour. Remember most beekeepers are qualified in the ways of the world and are jacks of all trades; Fencing, welding, cabinet making (well, simplified) mechanic, food processor, etc. Most professionals charge out their time at $40.00 per hour. Try using this figure and get a shock at what your honey business is returning.

Evaluate your return on each apiary. Those where you have to add a few hives each year because of die-outs may not be worth it. Good hive sites produce a surplus of hives; i.e. nucs taken off to prevent swarming develop to full size hives on their own while all hives produce a good honey crop most years.

Most beekeepers (small and large) do not put enough time into their paper work. Time spent planning, examining mistakes, is well worth while. Each activity should be broken down so all costs and expenditures are known. If you have the facts, it's easier to argue a case for a pollination price increase than doing it off the cuff. I look after a few hives for a vegetable/ fruit grower who is always spraying. These bees build up well in the spring and secure a good pollination for him but bee number dwindle around December and these hives never produce much of a surplus. This year I moved a nuc 3 km away and it produced two full depth supers of honey while the full size hives that remained produced only one. I gave him a copy of Dr Mark Goodwin's, Surfactant Report but it has made little difference. Some people are hard to educate.

All costs associated with beekeeping have gone up during the last 12 months and now the mite situation should set everybody thinking. It's difficult to reduce costs if you have no idea where all your profit comes from. If the mites cannot be eradicated from NZ, where are you going to get that extra $50 per hive, per year for mite strips.

Frank Lindsay